Button activated spring-loaded hinge assembly

ABSTRACT

A hinge assembly includes a first member, a second member, two rotary members, a resilient member, and a main shaft. The first member includes a cam surface. The two rotary members engage with the second member to constitute a latching cam surface engaging with the cam surface. The resilient member provides an elastic force for the first member to abut against the second member. The first member, the second member, the resilient member are placed around the main shaft. After the rotary members are rotated, the first member automatically rotates relative to the second member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to co-pending U.S. Patent Applications(Attorney Docket No.US37444, entitled “BUTTON ACTIVATED SPRING-LOADEDHINGE ASSEMBLY”, by Luo et al., which has the same assignee as thepresent application. The above-identified application is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to hinge assemblies and, particularly, toa spring-loaded hinge assembly for foldable devices such as portabletelephones and portable computers that can be activated by button.

2. Description of Related Art

Some hinge assemblies are spring-loaded to assist in opening thefoldable parts of mobile phones, which generally include a cover sectionand a body section. This kind of hinge assembly includes threadedengagement of its parts and is relatively complicated to manufacture. Inaddition, the threaded structure needs to be made of costly, highstrength material.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with referencesto the following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the present hinge assembly.Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric view of the exemplary embodiment of thehinge assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but viewed from another aspect.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing two rotary rods engaging in thesecond member.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the second member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the rotary rod.

FIG. 6 is an assembled view of the hinge assembly in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a hinge assembly100 applied in a foldable electronic device such as a flip type mobilephone. The hinge assembly 100 can be used in other environments (e.g.cabinet doors). Although used here in a foldable electronic device, thehinge assembly 100 should not be considered limited in scope solely tofoldable electronic devices.

The hinge assembly 100, in the embodiment illustrated, includes a firstmember 10, a second member 20, two rotary rods 30, a main shaft 40, abutton member 50, a resilient member 60, a sleeve 70, and a washer 80.

The first member 10 coaxially includes a head portion 12 and a camportion 14 integrally formed together. The head portion 12 includes atleast one protrusion 122 for non-rotatably engaging with the sleeve 70.The cam portion 14 is formed at one side of the head portion 12, and hasa smaller radius than the head portion 12. The cam portion 14 includes acam surface 142 with peaks and valleys. An axis hole 16 is defined inthe first member 10 to communicate the head portion 12 and the camportion 14.

Referring to FIG. 3, the rotary rods 30 are engaged with the secondmember 20 to form a latching cam surface 32 engaging with the camsurface 142. Referring to FIG. 4, the second member 20 defines a centralhole 21. In this exemplary embodiment, the second member 20 issubstantially cuboid for engaging with a body section of the mobilephone. Each of opposite sides of the second member 20 defines a slot 22and two rails 24. A concave portion 26 is formed on one end of thesecond member 20. Two receiving grooves 262 are symmetrically defined inthe concave portion 26 for receiving the rotary rods 30.

Referring to FIG. 5, each rotary rod 30 includes a rotary portion 33, apivot portion 34 and a handle portion 36. The rotary portion 33 includesan outline surface 332. The outline surface 332 is an irregular shape.The rotary portion 33 is rotatably received in a corresponding receivinggroove 262, and one part of the outline surface 332 with the concaveportion 26 constitutes the latching cam surface 32. The pivot portion 34is coaxially positioned at one end of the rotary portion 33. The handleportion 36 is positioned at another end opposite to the shaft portion34, and received in a corresponding slot 22.

The main shaft 40 extends through, in order, the second member 20, thefirst member 10, the resilient member 60, and the sleeve 70. The mainshaft 40 defines a through hole 42 for receiving the pivot portions 34of the rotary rods 30. One end of the main shaft 40 forms a flange 44,and the other opposite end forms a locking end 46. The flange 44prevents the elements on the main shaft 40 from separating from the endof the main shaft 40. The locking end 46 is for locking the washer 80.

The button member 50 is for pushing the rotary rods 30 received in theslots 22 so that the rotary rods 30 can rotate. In this exemplaryembodiment, the button member 50 includes opposite extending plates 52respectively received in the slots 22.

The resilient member 60 can be spiral-shaped (e.g. a coil spring). Theresilient member 60 is fit around the main shaft 40, and exerts elasticforce on the first member 10 to push the first member 10 toward thesecond member 20.

The sleeve 70 is a substantially a hollow cylinder, and includes an openend 72 and a partially-closed end 74. The open end 72 defines twoguiding grooves 724 for receiving the protrusions 122 to allow the firstmember 10 to be slidably received in the sleeve 70. The partially-closedend 74 of the sleeve 70 defines a hole 742. Opposite portions of thesleeve 70 are shaped to form a plurality of planner surfaces 76 engagingwith a cover section of the mobile phone.

The washer 80 is made of metal, and is engaged with the locking end 46of the main shaft 40.

In assembly, referring to FIG. 6, one end of the main shaft 40 extendsthrough the central hole 21 of the second member 20, and each pivotportion 34 of the rotary rods 30 is rotatably received in one of thethrough holes 42 of the main shaft 40. The rotary portions 33 arereceived in the receiving grooves 262 of the concave portion 26. Theoutline surface 332 with the second member 20 constitutes the latchingcam surface 32. The handle portions 36 are received in the slots 22 ofthe second member 20. Then, the first member 10 is fit over the mainshaft 40, with the cam surface 142 engaging with the latching camsurface 32. The resilient member 60 is fit over the main shaft 40 fromthe locking end 46. After the above elements are assembled, the sleeve70 is placed around the main shaft 40. The protrusions 122 are receivedin the guiding grooves 724. The partially-closed end 74 of the sleeve 70resists the resilient member 60, and the locking end 46 of the mainshaft 40 extends through the hole 742. The washer 80 is latched on thelocking end 46. The extending plates 52 of the button member 50 arereceived in the slots 22 and abut against the handle portions 36 of therotary rods 30. The rails 24 prevent the extending plates 52 fromseparating from the second member 20. Accordingly, the hinge assembly100 is assembled.

When the cover section is closed relative to the body section, therotary rods 30 abut against a position of the cam surface 142 adjacentto peaks. To open the mobile phone, a user slightly presses the buttonmember 50. When pressed, the button member 50 moves along an axialdirection of the main shaft 40 to bring the handle portions 36 of therotary members 30 to rotate. The rotary portions 33 are forced to rotateto a predetermined position, e.g., over the peaks of the cam surface142. Then, even after the button member 50 is released, the first member10 automatically further rotates relative to the second member 20.Furthermore, the first member 10 rotates the sleeve 70 so that the coversection of the mobile phone is opened.

In this hinge assembly, the moment of force applied to the rotary rodsis equal to lever arm multiplying force. When a predetermined moment offorce is applied to the rotary rods, the lever arm of the force ofpushing the handle portion has a predetermined length, and a small forceis enough to push the handle. Thus, users may apply a relatively smallerforce on the button member to force the rotary rods to rotate. Theoperation is easy, and this structure is simple.

It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will beunderstood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent thatdifferent changes may be made thereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferredor exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

1. A hinge assembly, comprising: a first member including a cam surface;a second member; two rotary members engaging with the second member toconstitute a latching cam surface engaging with the cam surface; aresilient member providing an elastic force for the first member to abutagainst the second member; and a main shaft, the first member, thesecond member, the resilient member placed around the main shaft;wherein after the rotary members are rotated to a predeterminedposition, the first member automatically further rotates relative to thesecond member.
 2. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein aconcave portion is formed on one end of the second member, two receivinggrooves are defined in the concave portion for engaging with the rotaryrods.
 3. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the secondmember defines a slot and two rails at opposite sides for receiving therotary rods.
 4. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein eachrotary rod includes a rotary portion, a pivot portion and a handleportion, the pivot portion is coaxially positioned at one end of therotary portion, and the handle portion is positioned at another endopposite to the shaft portion.
 5. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim4, wherein the rotary portion includes an outline surface, the rotaryportion is rotatably received in the second member, and one part of theoutline surface with the concave portion constitutes the latching camsurface.
 6. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the mainshaft defines through holes for respectively receiving the pivotportions of the rotary rods.
 7. A foldable electronic device having atleast two components hinged together by a hinge assembly, the hingeassembly comprising: a first member including a cam surface; a secondmember; two rotary members engaging with the second member to constitutea latching cam surface engaging with the cam surface; a resilient memberproviding an elastic force for the first member to abut against thesecond member; and a main shaft, the first member, the second member,the resilient member placed around the main shaft; wherein after therotary members are rotated a predetermined amount, the first memberautomatically further rotates relative to the second member.
 8. Thefoldable electronic device as claimed in claim 7, wherein each rotaryrod includes a rotary portion, a pivot portion and a handle portion, thepivot portion is coaxially positioned at one end of the rotary portion,the handle portion is positioned at another end opposite to the shaftportion.
 9. The foldable electronic device as claimed in claim 8,wherein the rotary portion includes an outline surface, the rotaryportion is rotatably received in the second member, and one part of theoutline surface with the concave portion constitutes the latching camsurface.
 10. The foldable electronic device as claimed in claim 9,wherein the main shaft defines through holes for respectively receivingthe pivot portions of the rotary rods.
 11. A hinge assembly, comprising:a first member including a cam surface; a second member; at least onerotary member engaging with the second member, the rotary member rotatedto a position relative to the cam surface, the first memberautomatically further rotates relative to the second member; and aresilient member providing an elastic force for the first member to abutagainst the second member.
 12. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim11, wherein the rotary rod includes a rotary portion, a pivot portionand a handle portion, the pivot portion is coaxially positioned at oneend of the rotary portion, and the handle portion is positioned atanother end opposite to the shaft portion.
 13. The hinge assembly asclaimed in claim 12, wherein a concave portion is formed on one end ofthe second member, at least one receiving grooves is defined in theconcave portion for engaging with the at least one rotary rod.